Understand The Web

2 May 2010

Perceptions of the web is changing. People are advocating that we treat the web like another application framework. An open, cross-platform, multi-device rival to Flash and Cocoa and everything else. I’m all for making the web richer, and exposing new functionality, but I value what makes the web weblike much, much more.

A must-read article on the state of the web today; I could quote practically every paragraph.

I remember a while back Khoi Vinh lamented that there are no ‘masterpieces’ on the web; no culture-defining works that will last the test of time. I’m sure he was referring to design when he wrote it (the particular post escapes me), but that’s a fallacy that touches on the same points made in this article; the web isn’t like print graphic design, just like TV isn’t like theatre or photography isn’t like painting. The same is true of the web and applications – they’re similar but different mediums.

I’d argue that YouTube is a masterpiece just as much as the Mona Lisa or 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s a totally different kind of thing, and that’s the whole point.

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From: Links

2 May 2010